Loo Zihan

Loo Zihan is a performance and moving-image artist based in Singapore. His work emphasizes the malleability of memory through various representational strategies that include performance re-enactments, essay films and data visualization.

Bio

His performances have been presented at various events, including the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival in 2012 and in 2015. His moving-image works have been screened at various international film festivals, such as the AFI Fest in Los Angeles and the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea. Zihan was awarded the Young Artist Award by the National Arts Council of Singapore in 2015.

Quote

“A quiet lyricism and poetic rhythm couches my explorations of shame, sexual content and the dangers and pleasures of self-exposure. In submitting to my own self-exposure, I propose my work as a gift to the viewer.”

Statement

‘Marking Cane’ was part of the Loo Zihan’s research into ‘Brother Cane’ – a 1994 performance that led to a ten-year restriction of licensing and funding of performance art in Singapore. ‘Marking Cane’ marks a return of the ‘ghost’ of previous reenactments to the site where Zihan first presented it in Chicago at the Defibrillator Gallery. The 90-minute performance consisted of a brief lecture performance and the subsequent re-enactment of the gestures in the 2011 performance in cadence with the video documentation of the 1994 (Singapore), 2011 (Chicago) and 2012 (Singapore) performances.